I’m considering getting a Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 and wondering what experiences people have had with using the Peel app and the IR blaster. To me this is a huge selling point because it would be awesome to have a large touch screen remote that I could use to control our Dish Network box. I’ve read some reviews that say that it doesn’t always function so well, so I’m wondering what real world experiences people might have had and how functional it actually is.

I’ve used Peel (back with the Tab 7.0 Plus, which didn’t need the add-on blaster). It worked well enough, but I found myself ditching it days after setting it up. I’ve also got a Google TV and that experience was leaps ahead of what Peel offered. I don’t know how much the Peel add-on costs, but if it’s anywhere near $99, I’d highly recommend getting a Google TV instead.

Google TV is out for us because we live in the sticks and can only get dial-up or satellite internet where we live. So that’s why the Tab 2 7.0 would be a cool option because it could be used as a remote without needing WiFI.

If you’ve got no WiFi connection, Peel might be a miss, too. It creates a ‘smart guide’ with a bunch of dynamic information, including posters, show notes, cast lists, etc. It downloads this info constantly from the internet as you use it.

Do you need the ‘smart’ aspect of the remote? Or just looking for a big universal remote with an awesome touch screen?

I guess I’m more interested in the big universal remote with awesome touch screen. I do have mobile hotspot on my phone, so I can use that for the tablet/Peel app and we do have WiFi in our house, but since it’s satellite internet, it’s s-l-o-w, but in theory we do have WiFi we can connect to for the smart aspect of the app. I just thought that it would be really cool to be able to use the IR blaster feature, but was worried about how well that actually works – although I guess even if it still works occasionally, you still have a great fully functional tablet.